Ranchi, Oct. 25: The International Centre for Wireless and Mobile Communication (ICWMC), set up in March 2004 at the Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra, today opened an International Research Centre on IRC-4G (Fourth Generation Mobile Communication System) at the Noida, New Delhi extension centre of BIT.

The centre was inaugurated by the Danish minister of science, technology and innovation, Helge Sander. As many as 15 delegates from European countries and representatives from the ministry of communications and information technology, were present on the occasion.

The ICWMC, set up in collaboration with Indonesia and three European countries ' Denmark, Italy and Netherlands ' is the first such centre for postgraduate and research studies in wireless and mobile communications technology.

ICWMC, BIT, Mesra and Centre for Tele Infrastructure (CTIF), Aalborg University, Denmark, collaborated in the IRC-4G project. It was initiated with the objective of joint research in the field of 4G technology. Sources said there has been remarkable technological developments in this field in the past 20 years.

The second-generation mobile telecommunication system is already being used and the third generation systems are expected to be implemented by 2005, said sources. But researchers are already trying to develop the framework of the fourth-generation system, expected to be launched within six to eight years from now, they added.

According to sources, the IRC-4G technology would not only provide tele-communication services but also data and multimedia services at high speed and low cost and the user can use multiple services from any service provider.